Cast stone, earthen retaining wall system incorporating geogrid, textile or fabric as the soil reinforcement.

ABSTRACT

A retaining wall module ( 1 ) comprises a wall panel member ( 2 ) having a front and a rear with a geogrid, mesh, textile or fabric member ( 4 ) mechanically connected to the panel member ( 2 ) by embedding in the said wall panel member ( 2 ) during casting. In one embodiment the connector ( 7 ) comprises any connectable type clip used as a temporary holding device. The permanent attachment to the soil being the geogrid, mesh, fabric or textile ( 4 ) which is embedded in the said wall panel member ( 2 ) and attached to the embedded reinforcement ( 5 ) that is an integral part of the cast stone face member.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of PPA APPLICATION # 60/939,740filed 2007 May 23 by the present inventors, which is incorporated byreference.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not applicable

BACKGROUND

1. Field of Invention

This invention pertains to soil engineering and retaining walls and morespecifically to modular precast concrete retention systems.

2. Prior Art

Many retaining wall systems incorporate the use of precast stone faceretaining wall systems with counterforts or tie backs combined withgeogrid, or geomesh creating a total system of retention. Until now noone has incorporated the two components, face stone and geogrid, meshfabric or textile into one complete item with the embedment of thegeogrid, mesh, fabric or textile all into one integral cast piece.

The cast stone in U.S. Pat. No. 6,557,818 to Manthci, 2003 May 6, is avery heavy stone in relation to the amount of wall face covered. Heavyequipment as a result is needed for placing it. If geogrid is used inthis retention system it is sandwiched between blocks as a connectionmethod.

In the U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,316 to Ash 2000 Sep. 5 a counterfort is usedas the main hold back of the face stone. This system lacks the abilityto tie a geogrid or mesh to their modules therefore limiting its abilityto be used in higher walls.

The method and apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,939 toHilfiker 1989, Aug. 15 uses a geogrid tied to wire trays but is limitedin it's appearance after installation with long term maintenance a drawback since weeds would grow out the front of the mesh.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,227 to Wilson, et al. 1988 Mar. 1 describes a systemrequiring a woven rod means inserted “within a channel formed by aninterfingering of said first and second intervening webs” making theinstallation of such a system much more complicated than necessary. Thegeogrid, mesh, fabric or textile being of a flexible nature eliminatesthe need for it to be attached after casting since it can be coiled,contributing to the more convenient means of stacking the stone forshipping.

Designed to be a vertical retaining system U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,646Issued date: Apr. 7, 1987 to John W. Babcock, Ronald K. Wormus lacksflexibility and the implementation of new innovations such as geofabrics to strengthen and extent it's capabilities.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the one embodiment there is provided a retaining wallmodule comprising a wall panel member having a front and a rear andembedded during casting is a geogrid, mesh, fabric or textile. Saidgeogrid, mesh, fabric or textile extends out at its rear side and is ameans whereby the said retaining wall module reinforces the retainedfill. During installation said retaining wall module is held temporarilyin place by tiebacks or counter weights.

DRAWINGS Figures

FIG. 1 is a rear isometric view, from within a soil mass, of anassembled precast concrete module (1) of the present embodiment,comprising a face stone panel (2) with the geogrid, mesh, fabric ortextile (4) protruding out of the rear of the face stone (2) Saidgeogrid, mesh, fabric or textile is embedded in the compacted retentionsoils during installation. Said geogrid, mesh, fabric or textile (4) inthis embodiment is attached to the welded wire mesh (5) by weaving awire rod (6) through said geogrid, mesh, fabric or textile at theopposite side of the welded wire mesh. A metal clip (7) in thisembodiment is embedded in said face stone panel (2) to accommodate a tieback (3) that is staked to the compacted ground through the stake hole(8) as a means to securing it's position during install.

FIG. 2 is a front isometric view, from within a soil mass, of anassembled precast concrete module (1) of the present invention,comprising a face stone panel (2) and with the geogrid, mesh, fabric ortextile (4) protruding out of the rear of said face stone panel (2) andembedded in the compacted retention soils.

FIG. 3 is a rear isometric view showing said face stone panel (2) insolid form demonstrating the finished product.

FIG. 4 is a front isometric view with the said face stone panel (2)removed to show the connection in this embodiment of the said geogrid,mesh, fabric or textile (4) and said welded wire mesh (5).

FIG. 5 is a front isometric view enlarged to show more detail.

FIG. 6 is a rear isometric view showing said face stone panel (2) insolid form demonstrating the finished product assembled in a four-tierwall system of one embodiment.

DRAWINGS Reference Numerals

-   -   1. retaining wall module    -   2. face stone    -   3. temporary holding rod    -   4. geogrid mesh, fabric, or textile.    -   5. welded wire reinforcement    -   6. wire to attach geogrid to wire mesh    -   7. clips to connect the temporary holding rod.    -   8. Hole in rod for stake

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIGS. 1-6 Preferred Embodiment

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the present soil reinforcing structureas shown and will be seen to include one or more facing members such aswall panels 2 and one or more soil reinforcing or anchoring grids 4extending horizontally from the rear surface of each wall panel 10 intocompacted earth or soil (not shown), behind the wall. The wall panelsgenerally speaking require foundations for support, however these areoften small leveling pads, with compacted road base.

The wall panels themselves may be of a variety of constructions but theform shown in the appended drawings is a face stone 2 with some stonelike feature on the front side. These wall panels 2 are precastreinforced concrete structures and can be made in a number of sizes. At32″×16″×2.25″ their weight is 80-85 lbs and easily hand moved.

The front face 2 of each panel may be decoratively finished as desired,whereas the rear surface can be of no definite design.

Anchoring grids 4 consist preferably of strong, flexible pre-stressedsynthetic geogrid, although other types of flexible materials, includingflexible wire mesh, may be used. A suitable geogrid is manufactured bythe Tensar Corporation of Atlanta, Ga. and sold commercially under thetrademark TENSAR. TENSAR geogrids are a high tensile strength,chemically inert, polymer grid developed specifically for long-term (120years) soil reinforcement applications. Another suitable geogrid ismanufactured by STRATA SYSTEMS.

STRATA SYSTEMS are a manufacturer and worldwide distributor of adiversified group of soil reinforcement products including Stratagrid,Microgrid, and Stratadrain. The drawings in this patent are drawn toresemble STRATA SYSTEMS SG500 product but other brands and types wouldsuffice. The grids are quite flexible and may be rolled or flexed orconformably shaped to the ground as required.

With reference to FIG. 5, the wall panels and anchoring grids are shownin greater detail. The wall panels, or one of them at a time, areerected on leveling pads and are held in an upright position by means oftemporary braces 3, the majority of which are typically arranged alongthe rear of the panels to shore them up as fill is added behind thewalls. Starting at the bottom of the rear surface of each panel, ananchoring grid 4 is buried to a level just below the second grid 4. Thegeogrid or mest at the central point of the stone is stretched out ontop of the compact soil and staked in place. Then the next level of fillis placed and compacted to the top of the face stone 2 at which pointthe process is repeated

The number of layers of vertically spaced grids formed in this fashionwill vary depending upon job requirements and design specifications, butthe arrangement shown in FIG. 6 includes four layers stacked but withextra geogrid the height of the wall is only limited by the engineeringof the soils.

Under load conditions, the geostatic and hydrostatic forces actingagainst the wall will of course result in tensile forces in theanchoring grids, and these forces will be spread evenly along the lengthof the grid, rather than being localized at a relatively few points ofconnection between the wall and the grid as is the case in many of theprior systems.

Prior to embedding geogrids 4 in the backfill, each grid is tensioned toremove folds or kinks and to maximize frictional gradients between thesoil and the grids. Stakes are used for this purpose.

It will be appreciated from the above that a new and improved system hasbeen described for interconnecting facing elements with mesh-typeanchoring grids offering improved performance in terms of simplicity ofconstruction, decreased assembly time, and the economic advantages ofconnecting the geogrid during casting.

The foregoing description of the invention has been presented forpurposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, andother modifications may be possible in light of the above teachings. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and its practical application to therebyenable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention invarious embodiments and various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated. It is intended that the appended claims beconstrued to include other alternative embodiments of the invention,except insofar as limited by the prior art.

1. A retaining wall module, comprising: (a) a wall panel member made ofcast stone having a base, a front and a rear and (b) embedded in saidwall panel member is one or more geo mesh, fabric or textile, thatprotrudes out the rear of said wall panel member and (c) is a means toreinforce the retained earth and maintain the position of said wallpanel member and whereby said geogrid, mesh, fabric or textile being ofa flexible nature after casting can be coiled and made compact forshipping.
 2. The retaining wall module according to claim 1, whereinsaid wall panel member is cast stone of any predeterminedcross-sectional shape with one or more reinforcement elements.
 3. Theretaining wall module according to claim 1, wherein said wall panelmember is of precast stone and said geogrid, mesh, fabric or textile isembedded into said wall panel member during casting.
 4. A modularretaining wall system comprising a plurality of said module according toclaim 1, arranged in a row along the ground with said wall panel membersin abutting relationship with one another.
 5. The modular retaining wallsystem according to claim 4, comprising a plurality of said rowsarranged in tiers to create a multi level system.